Movie community site Flixster tapped mobile ad network AdMob to boost the ranking of its iPhone application Movies by Flixster.

Through AdMob?s ?burst campaign,? a focused ad campaign spent over a couple days, Flixster rose to the Top 50 Free Apps on iTunes and set a new daily traffic record, driving more than 18,000 downloads in 48 hours. Mobile Marketer?s Dan Butcher interviewed Nicole Leverich, spokeswoman for AdMob, San Mateo, CA, about the Flixster campaign.

Here is what she had to say:

What is the strategy behind Flixster mobile ad campaign?
Flixster worked with AdMob to reinvigorate Movies by Flixster its comprehensive movie application for the iPhone or iPod Touch.

The goal of the campaign was to drive downloads to push the app back into the Top 50 overall free application list, which will increase general consumer discoverability of the application.

What is Flixster?s target demographic? How does AdMob help Flixster target and reach that demographic on mobile?
AdMob gave Flixster the iPhone reach it needed to make its campaign successful. AdMob?s iPhone ad network reaches more than 20 million unique iPhones and iPod touch devices worldwide in 2009.

Flixter?s iPhone application enables users to watch movie trailers, get showtimes, read reviews, view photos and connect with Facebook friends.

On which mobile sites and within which applications did the Flixster ads run?
Flixter?s ads ran across AdMob?s network of more than 2,500 iPhone and iPod touch application. Each ad led directly to the App Store download page, where users could download and use the application immediately.

They ran a variety of ad variations focused on specific movie titles, actors and actresses, as well as more general ad text around finding showtimes, trailers and other movie information.

What was the strategy behind the launch of Flixster?s iPhone application? Is there mobile commerce/payments functionality within it? How is it monetized?
Flixster worked with AdMob to reinvigorate the popularity of their iPhone application. Since most users discover applications while browsing on their device, top 50 ranking is critical for new user acquisition.